DC ParaTransit Info

We have been fortunate enough to wheel all around the new 6000 series rail cars WMATA is bringing into service, and they seem to be an interesting trade-off from the perspective of wheelchair users.

The biggest change is the lack of vertical poles at either end of each car, leaving a very large space capable of easily taking multiple wheelchairs.  This also means that a wheelchair user can travel from one end of the car to the other without serious impediment.

Unfortunately, Metro has made the center of each car the designated wheelchair space (at least going by the lack of wheelchair signage at the ends of the cars), with only two bays.

It seems that there have been a good number of changes during our hiatus, some good, some bad, and some that the jury remains out on.

Of this latter category is the news of Dan Tangherlini’s impending resignation as the Interim General Manager. He walked right into the firestorm that was MetroAccess at the beginning of his tenure.

If his being at the helm of Metro was responsible for the improvements we saw at the start of the year, then we can only hope that his replacement will prove to be as capable

The first meeting of the Washington Clients Care Group convened this past Saturday morning, March 18th, at the Wheaton Community Center. This meeting represented the first meeting of MetroAccess riders to meet at a location that was not at Metro Headquarters.

The meeting, organized by MetroAccess riders for MetroAccess riders, had a turn-out of over 60 riders, caregivers and drivers. Mike Antique, representing WMATA’s MetroAccess Department; Inez Evans and Nikki Frenney from MV Transportation; as well as Aaron Rich representing Montgomery County’s County Executive Douglas Duncan; and Ms. Karen McManus from Congressman Chris Van Hollen’s office and were also in attendance.

This is a copy of the latest service announcement that is being posted in MetroAccess vehicles, scanned and transferred online by DC ParaTransit Info to increase the accessible formats such announcements are available in.

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We’re continuing the transition to the new MetroAccess service provider, MV Transportation. As promised, we’re giving you an update on the transition.
Here’s the latest news:

• To improve MetroAccess service, Metro’s Board of Directors has authorized the purchase of 22 additional vehicles and installation of navigation and communications equipment (global positioning systems, onboard cameras and radios) in 77 of our existing vehicles. We’ll let you know when the vehicles and equipment arrive.

WMATA’s web site contains a press release advising of delays this saturday (March 25th 2006) due to the National Marathon.

WMATA advises that MetroAccess riders in the District and Prince George’s County may experience delays because of the road closures, and encourages riders to schedule their trips later in the day because of the expected road closures.

According to the information on WMATA’s site, the Marathon will begin at around 7am, and is expected to end around 2pm.

Given that WMATA has stated to DC ParaTransit Info it considers burying notification of the FY2007 Proposed Budget meeting deep within their site to be “adequate” notification whilst not mentioning it in their news pages, we note with great amusement the appearance, a day after the event, on the news section of WMATA’s site a press release soliciting comments and questions via email.

We regret that WMATA seems to have made sure that the MetroAccess ridership, through lack of effective notification of this meeting, were unable to face the Board to ask their questions or make comments in person.

DC ParaTransit Info has been informed that one of the drivers who spoke up at the Forum held Saturday March 18th has effectively been made functionally unemployed.  The driver, an employee of Challenger, is reported to have not been assigned any manifests since the meeting, in retaliation for having done so.

When we toured the MetroAccess call center in February, we mentioned to MV executives that one of the obstacles they faced was the potential fears of employees to speak out, given that this is Washington DC where such things usually end up being detrimental to someone’s career.

DC ParaTransit attended the MetroAccess sub-Committee meeting of the RAC, which met on Wednesday March 15. We felt that, since the agenda for this meeting allowed time for public comment, it was the next logical step after the public fora held on March 13. The community’s voices were heard - now what was going to be done with the issues that were raised?

Having seen the number of Riders that had descended on the February meeting of the Elderly & Disabled Committee MetroAccess Subcommittee, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see the attendance level at this, the first public forum specifically held to address the situation with MetroAccess since the transition in mid-January.

What was surprising however was the number of representatives of organizations that were present, and that participated.  Even more surprising was that, given the Rider’s Advisory Council is new and unproven, many brought along not only complaints, but also practical suggestions based on their experiences.  It’s a sign of the trust the riders are more likely to put in a rider-based organization over working through the established WMATA-controlled avenues.

It’s now the end of the first full calendar month since MV Transportation took over the MetroAccess contract from Logisticare.

It’s been a month highlighted by astounding numbers of complaints, a whole lot of denials and defensiveness, a Congressman stepping into the fray, as well as DC Councilmembers, and a new General Manager for WMATA who probably is wondering right now just what the hell he walked into.

Some things have improved since the beginning of the month, as MV Transportation and (surprisingly) WMATA have taken the feedback of riders on board and implemented changes to what we were presented with on January 15th.